It's hard not to be wowed by the The Lui Bar - from the moment that you step into the lobby of The Rialto, you're met with the maître d', who promptly sends you up to the 55th level in a private elevator. Operations here run like a smooth engine, with a team of experienced (yet slightly snooty) service staff. If you have friends visiting from out of town, this is exactly the kind of place that will impress them; with its specialty cocktails, polished ambiance and a jaw dropping view of the Melbourne skyline. Winning combination, no? :-) My friends and I were here for drinks and we made sure to arrive extra early...the bar tends to get really crowded past 6PM, where yuppies and corporate types come in for an after-work tipple. Now, make no mistake - this place is faaaancy, and 'hobo' is unfortunately not an acceptable look here, so dress up.

We tried a variety of their cocktails - a Sherry Cobbler, the Spider Dance Fizz, and the Lui Martini. The latter is really more of a deconstructed martini, where ingredients like orange bitters, lime peel and olives are supplied, so you get to decide how much of each ingredient you want in your drink. It's humorous, experimental and twice the fun, since it lets you play bartender. The bar also boasted an extensive wine list, and we had a 2012 Western Australian Riesling, which was lovely.

Vibes here are evidently chichi, but that didn't stop us from playing a round of drinking games that we spontaneously devised. We are, after all, just a bunch of college kids :-)

I also highly recommend giving their well-priced, gourmet bar snacks a go. The chickpea fries were unusual yet mouthwateringly good.The Lui Bar is also known to serve up a solid Macademia Martini, but it wasn't available that night...Guess that gives me one more reason to visit again then :-) #excuses